The ACA will soon affect small businesses

For many businesses, December is a time to celebrate the holiday season. This usually is done by providing information about upcoming bonuses, settling work schedules to deal with holiday based vacations and preparing end of year tax documents.

However, this coming December may be a difficult one for employers, as they may have to grapple with the provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act that many businesses have avoided for years. Essentially, the definition of "small business" will soon expand to enterprises with 50 or more employees, which means employers with non-compliant health care plans could face hefty "Cadillac plan" taxes that could cut deeply into a company's bottom line come tax time in 2016.

Indeed, much of the movement with regard to health care lies with providers; as they are going to be tasked with caring for many more patients with less money. Some are looking to use more nurses and social workers to deal with easily screen-able ailments while providing helpful information. But for employers, making sure that they have ACA compliant plans for the right price can be a challenge.

But employers should be looking beyond the bottom line to ensure compliance. They must make certain that their health care choices, such as incentives for participating in wellness programs, do not discriminate against disabled employees. This could bring about a host of unanticipated problems that could prove costly.

Consulting with an experienced employment law attorney on questions about the ACA can help a business avoid these problems.

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